Friday, May 05, 2006

Dale Sveum. The name evokes hideous flashbacks to the 2004 and 2005 seasons, of runners cut down at third and home before their time, of runs and games lost, hitting the mind with the intensity of full-blown PTSD. There were definitely times when watching that man direct runners made you want to drink heavily and I think all of RSN is a bit better off for not having to worry about Sveum this year. As we noted last October, Sveum left the Sox organization after the 2005 season to join the Milwaukee Brewers as their third base coach, which means Brewers fans now have the distinct pleasure of watching Sveum “work.”

The result is something like what happened last night, when Corey Koskie hit a double to the right field corner. Keep in mind the following: Moises Alou, the Giants right fielder, caught up to the ball pretty quickly. It was deep enough to get Koskie to second base, but this ball was not a ball Alou lost track of by any means. On the play Prince Fielder, who was on first base, hustled to third and got there by the time Alou snagged the ball. Now, Fielder is six feet tall and 260 pounds. Saying he’s not built for speed is like saying an SUV isn’t built for fuel economy. However, Sveum still decides it’s a good idea to send him home when Alou already has the ball in his glove! Amazingly, even though Fielder would have been out by a mile, he plows into catcher Todd Greene, lays him out flat and scores a run when Greene drops the ball. Sveum, perhaps in shock that his plan to cause another unnecessary out failed so spectacularly, sends Koskie home even though first baseman Lance Niekro is now covering home and Niekro tags Koskie out easily, ending the play. I mean, mad style points to Fielder for taking out a catcher, but I still don’t understand how Sveum lands these coaching jobs.

About This Blog

"Four people are sitting around a table, talking about baseball, five minutes of it, very dull. Suddenly a bomb goes off. Blows people to smithereens. What does the audience have? Ten seconds of shock."-Alfred Hitchcock